Rating: 
Summary: DeLorme loses a customer
Review: When I saw that the version number of the new Street Atlas had gone from "9" to "2003", I feared the worst.Alas, I was correct. Delorme has migrated SA to their "new" user interface, a descendant of the unusably bad one inflicted upon us in Topo 3.0 (and which is only somewhat improved in Topo 4). This interface is, umm, well, it [is bad]. The amount of non-intuitive "monkey motion" required to accomplish a simple task is easily double what the old familiar interface needs. To me this appears to be a whole bunch of mostly-unneeded new features, thrown together with an interface designed by a committee of engineers who have apparently never seen a Windows PC or a Mac. Oh, and let's not forget the often-lousy map data and a lot of really laughable gaps in the routing data. I found instances where, for example, the routing cannot even follow a straight state highway, in the middle of a desert, for 20 miles without deciding to put you off on a dirt road. And the comment about roads still on the map when they've been abandoned for 50 years is right on. Doesn't anybody actually know where the real roads are in this country? Yes, the old program was showing some limitations, but this could have been addressed without trashing all of the functionality and ease of use. This new version has truly seen the baby tossed out with the bath water. Whoever allowed this travesty onto the market should be fired. I am still holding out hope that when a newer version of AAA Map'n'Go (which is based on the old SA program) comes out, it will retain the old interface. If, as I fear, it does not, then DeLorme will no longer have me as a customer.
Rating: 
Summary: Used by the real "James Bond"
Review: Yes, its true. I am a licensed private investigator in Tennessee and California and my real birth name is James Bond. I recently purchased Street Atlas 2003 along with the Delorme Earthmate GPS receiver. I have been using it for my surveillance work (both urban and rural areas of Tennessee)and it has been an incredible help. By using the "Route" feature, the built-in voice navigation takes me right to the location of my case first thing in the morning. Poor lighting is no longer a factor! Missing street signs, no problem! I have found that addressing is fairly accurate (slight error factor is expected) along most streets. I've also found the majority of the landmarks to be accurate. While I am tailing my "subject," I get a bird's eye view of the entire area, upcoming intersections, landmarks, potential congested areas, etc. I make a wrong turn, get turned around trying to catch my "subject," whatever - all I have to say is "Where am I?" and the computer spits out my exact location, direction and speed. I've also used the routing feature while serving legal documents. This product saves so much time - its paid for itself many times over in just a few weeks. Before I used paper maps or an online mapping program to print localized maps out...all very tedious, time consuming and expensive. Not anymore! For anyone who drives frequently for a living, I'd highly recommend this product!
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